MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 125-118 loss to the Chicago Bulls:
– Kind of hard to avoid the elephant not in the room.
– Because Kel’el Ware rarely was there on Saturday night.
– The Heat second-year center was limited to 3:11 in this one.
– Not in a quarter.
– Or a half.
– But the entire game.
– Yes a pair of shaky defensive sequences during that lone stint.
– But arguably not nearly as much shaky play as Nikola Jovic.
– Who played more.
– True the Bulls lacked a true center amid their absences.
– Which made the matchup an issue for Ware..
– But there is something going on here.
– Even if it’s not exactly clear.
– Rotation players typically get more of a chance.
– Is Ware not even that at the moment?
– And now, the Heat won’t be playing the same team again on Sunday.
– Oh, it again will be the Bulls.
– But this time, Chicago plans to come to play.
– Unlike what they decided would be a day of rest Saturday.
– So at least Coby White and Nikola Vucevic back.
– Perhaps, but not likely, Josh Giddey, as well.
– On Saturday, those three, plus other Bulls rotation components, got the night off.
– Welcome to today’s NBA, when playing every night is now viewed as too taxing.
– “It feels like this is what the NBA is,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said pregame. “You face a team at one point in the year, next time you play them it’ll be likely different.”
– The Bulls opened with a lineup of Patrick Williams. Matas Buzelis, Kevin Huerter, Isaac Okoro and Ayo Dosunmu.
– No, really.
– Bulls coach Billy Donovan was candid about his team’s situation going in.
– “There’ll be some lineups out there that will be a little different than I think what we’ve seen in the past,” he said.
– And yet … it worked.
– Or, more to the point, the Heat couldn’t find a way.
– The Bulls ended the first quarter with a lineup of Yuki Kawamura, Jevon Carter, Julian Phillips, Dalen Terry, Lachlan Olbrich.
– The Chicago Bulls, mind you, not the G League Windy City Bulls.
– The Heat also were shorthanded, but not for rest or recovery reasons.
– With Norman Powell (personal reason) out as well as Davion Mitchell (shoulder) and Tyler Herro (ribs), the Heat this time opened with a lineup of Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson, Kasparas Jakucionis and Myron Gardner.
– Of Herro being out with another extended absence, this time a rib issue, Spoelstra said pregame, “There’s things that sometimes happen for players and the things that you can’t control. The one thing I do know about Tyler, after spending so many years with him, is he has resolve. He has grit. He fights through and focuses on the things that he can control.”
– Spoelstra added, “Right now, it’s just getting healthy and then putting in the work to get ready.”
– With Giddey, White, Vucevic and Jalen Smith getting the night off, among others for the Bulls, it meant going against several unknown quantities for the Heat.
– As for patience?
– Donovan called a timeout 1:16 in, with his Bulls down 3-0.
– Jaime Jaquez Jr. was first off the Heat bench.
– Followed together by Ware and Simone Fontecchio, with both playing ahead of Nikola Jovic.
– Jovic and Dru Smith then followed for 10 deep.
– With Ware only getting those first-half minutes.
– It does not appear Giddey will be available for Sunday’s rematch, either.
– “They’re not going to put him back out there until the tightness is gone,” Donovan said of the medical staff’s concern with Giddey’s hamstring. “They’re going to want to see him ramp up and do some things.”
– Donovan added, “Until that tightness is completely gone, they’re going to keep holding him out and keep trying to ramp him up.”
– The game was the 17th and final in January for the Heat, the most for any month this season and ties for the most games during the month of January in franchise history (2016, 2012, 2010).
– The game opened the third of six occurrences this season when the Heat face the same opponent consecutive times, with additional instances remaining against Brooklyn (both at home, March 3 and March 5), Cleveland (both on the road, March 25 and March 27) and Toronto (both on the road, April 7 and April 9).
– The game marked the first of a home back-to-back with another game against Chicago on Sunday, the 12th of the Heat’s league-high 17 back-to-back sets.
– Additionally, it is the third and final instance with home games on consecutive days this season. The Heat has played home games on consecutive days 44 previous times in franchise history, winning both 14 times, splitting the pair 20 times and dropping both on 10 occasions.